Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-06-22
CHOOSING A DOCTOR.
SUGGESTIONS FROM A PHYSICIAN or
THIRTY YEARS PRACTICE.

Reasons why Certain Practitioners Should
Not be Chosen First-DesirabIe Quail
ties or Medical Adviser-An Old Car
dinal's Advice.
In choosing medical attendant, per-
sonality goes q long way with most people.
When some member OF the family falls
very i'll, usually practitioner of pre-
sumed eminent standing Is called in as
consultant by the attending physician.
Nine times out of ten this consulta-
tion results in the consultant's con-
firming and approving the diagnosis
and treatment of the family physi-
clan In many instances this appro-
baton is hearty and well deserved; but
in some, am sorry to say, the con-
sultant yields his judgment to politcness
and good nature rather than discredit tho
family doctors treatment, etc.
Never choose q recent graduate in medi
cine, as he Is always inclined to do as the
professor of practice taught him, as he
usually knows the formulas of the various
prescriptions presented by that professor.
Yet he lcks the experience and learned
tOuch-the tactus eruditus-of his teacher.
the idea that drugs possess the power to
travel through tho system and drive ont
disease, just as a ferret chascs the rats
from between tho floorings and walls Of
al old house. 1t takes tho embryonic doc
tor at least ten years to know that he
should curb his dose giving tendcncics
and to learn that most diseases, ii let
alone, will get well OF themselves.
Never choose doctor who has q hobby
ii medicine, as be Is most sure to trace all
forms Of disease to that offending organ
ism which Elay be his especial study. /
have known men to trace every disease to
tho stomach, to indigestion, and another
to the liyer, and another to the nervous
system, and another to certain pelvic de-
fects, If the patient should be woman.
The man who attributes all troubles to
malaria is Ezcwise to be avoided as a
guiding and Soe reasoning doctor Ma
laria covers up good deal of ignorance,
just as charity covers multitude of sins,
the difference, however, being that In the
DOCTORS case the patient usually suffers
and sometimes dies because Of malaria,
while the charity axiom is always sure to
be of service to somebody.
Never employ a doctor who is strictly
wooded to authority. Authority" gem
orally means that doctor who bows down
in reverence to 1t has no logical turn Of
mind, AMI he either lacks knowledge or
information or courage to rely upon his
own methods. Such doctor can never
flnd case such as he has under treat
ment in any Of the books of authority,
because there are no two diseases exactly
alike, any more than there are any two
faces exactly alike. The features of all
fY,n
in totality IL absolutely different
Mover choose doctor who claims to
cure everything, particularly if he is some
what advanced IN life and has become
welded to fixed ideas and Interchangeable
themes. Such doctor invariably quotes
the shining lights Of the past, and he sees
no advance in his profession. This man
has lordly contempt for the microscope
and chemical analysis, and he feels above
searching for new discoveries, either in
finding ont what may be the character OF
the illness or in the new science Of admin
istering as little medicine as possible.
After medical man passes his sixty fourth
year he should be retired If possible, like
general officer ID the army. He is then
too firmly allied to his own individuality
to unbend his dignity to new facts.
When you do choose medical adviser,
seek to discover If he is a man of good ed
ucation, good manners, good habits, good
reasoning powers and good health. Edu-
cation implies that his mind has been
trained to logical deductions, and they In
turn teach one to associate every action IN
life with common sense.
Good manners indicate gentle, soothing
methods and patience quail icatiOns 50
much appreciated By the sick. who are